WEST BLOOMFIELD (MI) -- In the last episode of “FTS” I alluded to the fact that I would be heading east and attending my 50th high school reunion over the Labor Day weekend. Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s when we were growing up if someone in your family or even a neighbor did a road trip, then it was required by law that they bore everyone they knew to tears with a slideshow of all that they saw, did and ate. Well, guess what kids – the ‘50s are back!

I had a 6:30 am flight, so my first stop when I hit my hometown of Leominster was Tim’s Diner, which is run by Tim Kamataris, a guy I played Pop Warner Football against many moons ago. Tim knows his way around a griddle, as this pic will attest:

Next stop was to visit my folks.

Mom:

And Dad:

We scattered my father’s ashes at Rice Meadow, the fly-fishing club he belonged to in Westminster. Jerry, the president of the club was there doing some maintenance and he was nice enuf to let me take a rowboat out for a spin around the pond.

I also stopped by my 2nd favorite grave site in Leominster:

Joseph Palmer was “persecuted for wearing the beard” as it says on his headstone. You can read more about him here:

We started out with 110 guys our freshman year which was winnowed down to 69 by the time we graduated. Since then roughly 10 of them are unfortunately no longer with us.

North Conway, NH is the site of one of my Dad’s favorite practical jokes that he pulled on both my brother and me:

While driving north to deer hunt when we passed the Eastern Slope Inn he would casually mention “I got a young girl pregnant there once.” Dad would wait a few minutes before revealing that it was here that he and my Mom had honeymooned.

Back to Massachusetts and a three-hour snorkeling trip around our favorite reservoir for me and my sister:

We saw two things neither of us had ever seen in 50+ years of swimming there -- a big snapping turtle – not quite as big as this one, but close:

And fresh water jellyfish! I obviously couldn’t take a pic but there were hundreds of 'em and they self-propelled just like their deep-sea brethren. We Googled “fresh water jellyfish” as soon as we hit shore and sure enuf Craspedacusta sowerbyi as they are known are found in many states across the US:

Heywood Reservoir was affectionately known as “NC Beach” (as in ‘No Clothes’ Beach) to me and my friends in our youth. We used to have “naval battles” while riding on logs, which is not the greatest idea when you happen to be naked. In this picture you can see the pump house at NC Beach:

My friend Gus fell off the top of that sucker one time and landed on the rocky ground below. He wasn’t hurt (or wearing clothes) and when he got up he was confronted by a woman riding a horse. Good times!

I also stopped by Bennett School, where young Swampy learned how to hoop:

Believe it or not but those backboards are 50+ years old themselves. They’re ventilated, so it made bank shots super easy—just hit the right spot and you got a bucket, no matter how hard you banked it. As the grass growing in the cracks in the asphalt can attest, not too many people hoop there any more.

MASSACHUSETTS
UMass Amherst, the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system, sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, 90 miles from Boston and 175 miles from New York City. The campus provides a rich cultural environment in a rural setting close to major urban centers. UMass enrolls over 20,000 undergraduates and 5,000 post-grad students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Minutemen. Women's teams known as the Minutewomen. Sports achievements include NCAA Final Four appearances in men's basketball and women's soccer.